Scott Walker + Sunn O))): Soused

When Sunn O))) first approached Scott
Walker about appearing on their 2009 albumMonoliths &
Dimensions, little did they know what it would actually lead
to. Four years on, Scott was back with something even more
enticing, collaborating on Soused, a body of work he was
writing with them in mind.

With a career spanning more
than five decades, Scott Walker’s cult status remains as
significant as ever before. Experiencing mega-stardom as
part of The Walker Brothers before carving out a career as a
solo crooner who released a quartet of peerless self-titled
LPs that painted rich vignettes of life in the late 60s,
Scott went through what felt like a massive U-turn by
recording a collection of masterfully challenging
albums:Climate Of Hunter (1984), Tilt (1996), The Drift
(2006) and Bish Bosch (2013). While there’s some truth to
this artistic arc, the actual picture is a lot more complex,
with his knack for introducing the disturbingly
counter-intuitive and the uncanny into his songwriting
dating back to the likes of 'The Plague' (1967) and
‘It’s Raining Today’ (1969).

Centred around the core
duo of Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson, Sunn O))) have
been at the heart of underground and experimental metal
since they began in Los Angeles back in 1998, broadening in
range to increasingly encompass avant-garde and jazz
dynamics to their dark music. Anderson runs Southern Lord
(Sunn O)))’s usual label home), whilst O’Malley is
involved in a remarkable web of projects as a musician,
designer, and label head of Ideologic Organ. They appear
alongside extended Sunn O))) member Tos Nieuwenhuizen on
this recording.

Recorded in London in early 2014 and
produced by Scott Walker and long-time ally Peter Walsh with
the assistance of musical director Mark Warman, Soused is a
5-track, 50-minute collaborative record that cements the
status of both act’s wide-reaching and otherworldly
renown.

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